Cubs' Arrieta cuts down Phillies

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchange•September 1, 2013

CHICAGO - It didn't matter which dugout it was viewed from; Jake Arrieta's cut fastball was nasty on Sunday. Arrieta (2-1) held the Philadelphia Phillies offense in check and the Chicago Cubs bats provided a well-rounded attack in a 7-1 victory. Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said it's not often one sees a cutter move like Arrieta's did. "He has a cut fastball that was breaking about a foot at times," Sandberg said. "That's abnormal for a cut fastball. He was jamming some left-handed hitters with it and the ball was running away from right-handers." Arrieta tossed 6 2/3 strong innings of one-run ball, giving up only three hits, while striking out four and walking three. His manager, Dale Sveum, continued the string of compliments. "When he's in the zone, he's pretty tough," Sveum said. "That ball's heavy, and when he gets command of that cutter, that thing's going to be a pretty powerful pitch in the league." With the Cubs clinging to a one-run lead in the fourth inning, Welington Castillo gave Arrieta some breathing room against Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. Donnie Murphy opened the inning with a single, and Brian Bogusevic roped a line drive that got stuck in the vines in left field for a ground-rule double. Castillo followed and knocked both men in when he ripped a double that bounced all the way to the wall in the left-center field gap. Castillo advanced to third on Arrieta's fly ball to right and came around to score on Darwin Barney's sacrifice fly to put the Cubs up 5-1. The Phillies had cut the Cubs' lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth when Darin Ruf hit a one-out homer into the basket in left-center field, his 12th home run of the season. Center fielder Ryan Sweeney seemed to be ready to catch the ball, but the ball went just far enough to put the Phillies on the board. "I thought I had a bead on it and I couldn't really see it because of the sun," Sweeney said. "Then at the last second I could see it, but the basket just got it. I couldn't jump up high enough, obviously, to catch it." But that was the closest the Phillies got as Kendrick failed to shut down the Cubs' offense in the bottom half of the inning. Kendrick (10-12) gave up eight hits and five runs in his six innings of work and has struggled in his last nine starts, posting a 2-5 record with a 6.70 ERA. "Just keep pitching," Kendrick said. "Things will turn around hopefully sooner than later. Take it one pitch at a time and turn it around." The Cubs got on the board early off Kendrick when Sweeney lined a two-out single just over the outstretched glove of shortstop Jimmy Rollins to drive in Barney and put the Cubs up 1-0 in the first. They added to their lead in the third when Starlin Castro scored on an Anthony Rizzo double off the top of the wall in right field, putting the Cubs up 2-0. "Sweeney started it off with a single to get us on the board," Sveum said. "Two sacrifice flies by Barney and Castro to add on runs. So you can do certain things and keep your closer out of the game." With 2 1/3 shutout innings on Sunday, the Cubs' bullpen held the Phillies scoreless in their final 6 1/3 innings of work, helping Chicago snag the final two games of the weekend series. NOTES: With rosters expanding, the Cubs recalled OF Sweeney, 3B Luis Valbuena and RHP Alberto Cabrera. The Cubs indicated more call-ups will be coming once the minor league season ends, which for Class AAA Iowa is Monday. ... Entering Sunday, SS Castro was hitting .365 with a .961 OPS in 24 games against the Phillies. ... The Phillies made a pair of moves on Saturday evening. 3B Michael Young was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Class AA LHP Rob Rasmussen, and INF John McDonald was traded to the Boston Red Sox for minor league RHP Nefi Ogando. INF/OFs Cesar Hernandez and Michael Martinez were recalled from Class AAA Lehigh Valley to take their spots on the active roster.